


Dennis and Liam Do My Fair Lady

by adrianicsea



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: (liam gets cleaned up in this fic i'm not an animal), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-10-15 01:23:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10547646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adrianicsea/pseuds/adrianicsea
Summary: Some time after the McPoyle-Ponderosa wedding, Liam McPoyle washes up on Paddy's doorstep, looking for a new life after his exile from the McPoyle clan. When he asks to join the Gang, since he has no place else to go, Dennis sees the opportunity of a lifetime.AU, canon-divergent after the Maureen Ponderosa Wedding Massacre-- Liam didn't lose his eye, but he did get exiled from the family after trying to marry outside of it.





	1. overture

It’s noon on a Tuesday when Liam McPoyle blows into the bar.

“Oh, what the hell do you want?” Mac demands. Dee and Dennis wear matching scowls of disgust as they glare at him from the pool table, while Frank watches from the end of the bar. It’s a good thing, Dennis thinks, that Charlie is in the basement right now.

“Salutations, Macwell,” Liam says, not batting an eye at the very clear hostility in the room. As per his usual, he’s wearing only a bathrobe, but something about him looks even more pathetic than usual. Dennis isn’t sure yet what it is.

“Yeah, what the shit are you doing here, Liam?” Dennis asks, already making his way over to confront him. After what happened at the Ponderosa wedding, he’s had more than his fill of McPoyles for the rest of his life.

Oddly enough, though, Liam doesn’t seem as standoffish as he usually is. He raises his shoulders just a touch, the barest hint of a shrug.

“I wanted to come hang out,” he says simply, like that explains anything. Like he makes it a habit to hang out with the Gang.

“Well, we don’t wanna hang out with you,” Dennis retorts. From the pool table behind him, Dee adds, “Yeah, why don’t you go home and bang your brother, or whatever it is you people do?”

If Liam coming to Paddy’s was the first surprise of the day, Dennis thinks, the second surprise is that Liam looks genuinely sad at Dee’s question. He slumps and shuffles over to the bar, taking a seat at one of the stools.

“I would if I could, my avian friend,” he says, sparing a glance in Dee’s direction. “But I got exiled.”

Dennis’ eyebrows furrow in confusion, and he exchanges a look with Mac.

“What do you mean, exiled?” Mac asks. After hesitating for a moment (and sharing another look with Dennis), he grabs a beer for Liam and hands it over to him. Liam takes it with a small nod of gratitude, but sets it aside without another glance.

“After the wedding, Pappy officially banished me from the McPoyle lineage.” Liam is quiet as he explains, tracing the grain in the bar counter with one long finger. “They didn’t take kindly to me trying to marry outside the bloodline.”

Well. What the hell are any of them supposed to do with that information?

“What?” Mac asks, helpfully putting Dennis’ thoughts into words.

 _“I LOST EVERYTHING!”_ Liam suddenly snaps, eyes blazing as he glares up at Mac. Then he slowly turns his stool to regard all of them.

“… And now that I’m not a McPoyle, you guys are all I have left.”

Liam swallows before turning his gaze back to Dennis.

“So I wanted to come hang out.”

It’s hard to argue with that, Dennis thinks. If things are really going that badly for Liam, the least they can do is let the poor asshole hang out for awhile and have a couple drinks.

“Whatever, Liam.” Dennis lifts his head, giving a dismissive sniff as he walks back to his game of pool with Dee.

Things settle into an uneasy peace then, as Frank starts cracking walnuts and Mac resumes wiping down the counter.

It lasts right up until Charlie emerges from the basement, covered in blood with his rat stick slung over his shoulder.

“Hello, Charles,” Liam greets him, tipping his still-unopened beer bottle in Charlie's direction.

Even from across the bar, Dennis can tell that Charlie is still in Rat Mode. His eyes are wild and empty the way they get when he has to bash rats, no hint of kindness or emotion in them.

Charlie stares at Liam for a long moment before he raises his rat stick and yells. Dennis’ eyes go wide as he watches Charlie take the first running step towards Liam—

\--only for Mac to step in just in time, placing a gentle hand on Charlie’s shoulder.

“Dude, it’s okay! He’s cool!”

“He is _not_ cool!” Charlie protests, but he stops trying to run. He keeps his bat pointed at Liam, though, as he turns to look at the Gang. “What the hell is going on?”

Frank is the one who explains.

“Charlie, Liam got exiled from his family for tryin’ to marry that Ponderosa broad. We’re lettin’ him hang out because his life is in the shithole.”

Charlie glances around the room, slowly relaxing as everyone gives him nods of agreement with Frank’s statement. Finally, he lowers the rat stick with a casualty that Dennis finds disgusting. (Now there are rat entrails all over the floor.)

“Okay,” Charlie says. He’s still regarding Liam warily, but at least he’s not in Rat Mode anymore. “I guess he can hang out today.”

Liam makes a sound that’s almost a hiss before he says, “Oh, I didn’t mean just today.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Dennis asks.

Liam turns to look at him and offers him a little smile.

“I wanna join the Gang.”

Mac has to restrain Charlie again.

* * *

 

Once they’ve corralled Charlie and explained to Liam that they need a moment to discuss this, they all pile into the office.

“This is obviously some kind of scheme,” Dee hisses the moment they’ve closed the door behind them. “He’s gotta be lying about his family or something.”

Mac nods in agreement, his eyes big and dark as he looks around the circle they’ve formed.

“I’m with Dee on this one,” he says. “Why would Liam come to us when we’re the ones who technically ruined his wedding or whatever? That doesn’t make any sense!”

“Yeah, this is bad news, guys,” Charlie agrees. “We’re not doing this, right?”

“Right, absolutely not.” Dennis speaks with an air of finality; it’s his job to make big decisions around the bar, after all. Sure enough, everyone makes various grunts of agreement.

Except for Frank.

Normally, his silence doesn’t mean much of anything, but Dennis can tell from the look in his eyes right now that Frank is thinking. Dennis _hates_ it when Frank is thinking.

“Frank…?” Dennis starts, voice low and warning.

“Huh?” Frank suddenly turns to look at Dennis, as though he had just tuned back into the conversation. Dennis knows him better than that, though—Frank is losing it, true, but he hasn’t lost it that much yet.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually _considering_ this.”

Frank gives a noncommittal shrug.

“Look, the thing of it is—“

“No, Frank!” Dennis yells, cutting him off. “There _is_ no 'thing of it!'”

The rest of the Gang explodes similarly. Frank soldiers on regardless, though, determined to share his thoughts.

“ _The thing of it is_ , that poor bastard’s got nothin’ left! What’s the worst he can do to us now that he’s all by himself? If he joins the Gang, we can use him for free labor or somethin’!”

“ _Bullshit,_ Frank!” Mac protests.

“We can use Liam for free labor without letting him join the Gang! It can be a Rickety Cricket type situation!”

Dee nods in agreement.

“Hell, why stop there? Why don’t we just send him to go _live_ with Cricket? Maybe they’ll fall in love or something!”

“Ohh, Dee, that’s a great idea!” Mac exclaims with a grin. “They’re the only people disgusting enough for each other! Plus when they die in two years of street diseases, they’ll go straight to hell for being queers, so we don’t have to worry about them dicking with our afterlife!”

That sours the mood of the room just a little bit. Dee looks a little less enthusiastic about her plan, and even Charlie’s expression falls. A moment later, though, he recovers.

“I mean… it _is_ free labor,” Charlie points out. “And if he lives with Cricket, that means he doesn’t have to live with us.”

“See?” Frank smiles, pleased that the rest of the Gang has finally come around. “It’s really just the most ethical, economic solution.”

“Well, when you put it like that, we _gotta_ let him join the Gang,” Mac agrees.

Then everyone turns to Dennis, who has been suspiciously silent. Not because he didn’t have anything to say, though, of course. While everyone else was talking, he was thinking… And his thoughts have led him to something very interesting.

“… Maybe we _should_ let him join the Gang,” Dennis murmurs.

The looks of surprise and disbelief that everyone gives him aren’t at all unexpected.

“Dude, _what?”_ Mac asks.

Dennis continues calmly, “Look. Frank said Liam doesn’t have anything left, right? Family is all the McPoyles have.” He pauses, grimacing to himself. “Literally.”

“So what?” Frank asks.

“So what,” Dennis explains, “is that we have a very rare opportunity here. Liam has been reduced to _nothing._ He’s a weak, spineless excuse of a man with nowhere to go and no one who cares about him. You guys…”

Dennis chuckles.

“He’s a blank slate.”

“Dennis…” Dee tilts her head to stare at him, her brows furrowed.

“What the fuck?”

Dennis snorts and tosses his head, already dismissing Dee.

“Of course _you_ don’t get it! This could be a fascinating experiment.”

He turns to speak to the rest of the Gang.

“All I have to do is make Liam dependent on me, and then I can bend him to my will. He’s probably so eager for purpose right now, he’ll do whatever I say.”

Mac’s nose wrinkles in that annoying way that it does when he’s thinking.

“Dude… Are you gonna D.E.N.N.I.S Liam?”

Dennis sighs.

“No, Mac! I’m not gonna D.E.N.N.I.S Liam.”

Arms spread wide, he continues, his voice going soft, “God made man in His own image, right, Mac?”

Dennis gives Mac his best and most well-practiced puppy eyes, and Mac nods in agreement, the disgust quickly draining out of his face.

“This is my chance to do the same.”

His conclusion delivered and his mind made up, Dennis turns on his heel and walks neatly out the door. He ignores the loud protests from the rest of the Gang behind him.

* * *

 

When Dennis emerges into the bar, he finds Liam exactly where they left him, perched on a stool and hunched over the counter. He has a glass of milk in his hand, now, though, which would be bizarre if Dennis felt like taking the time to think about it—they don’t keep milk at the bar.

But Dennis doesn’t feel like taking the time to think about it, because he’s on the verge of something beautiful here.

“Good news, Liam!” he announces. Liam slowly looks up from his drink, watching Dennis with hooded eyes.

“What’s the good word, Denjamin?” he asks. Dennis thinks he can see the faint hint of a smile somewhere in Liam’s expression, but it’s hard to tell, even with his advanced psychological skill at reading people.

“It’s your lucky day, dude. Welcome to the Gang.”

Liam’s face doesn’t change, except for the smallest quirk of an eyebrow. He does sit up straighter, though, and adjust the collar of his bathrobe.

“You’ve made the right call, Dennis,” Liam announces. Then, clearing his throat, he asks, “So did you want me to sleep in the basement, or….?”

“No basement, Liam.”

Dennis closes the gap between them to settle a patently friendly arm around Liam’s shoulder. For now, he ignores the clammy odor of milk hanging around Liam and the sheen of sweat covering his face. He’ll get rid of all of that soon enough.

“I want you to come stay with me and Mac.”


	2. why can't the english?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living with Liam, Dennis decides, is going to take some getting used to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have a good excuse for why this took so long to update. Sorry, everyone! Hopefully you'll find this update worth the wait.

“…And you’ll be sleeping on the couch,” Dennis finishes, indicating said couch as they return to the living room. Liam and Mac hover on either side of him—Liam simply nodding in silence, Mac wearing the same furrowed brows and frown he’s been sporting all day.

“Is there anything else I need to know about?” Liam asks, turning to regard Dennis with that flat blue stare. It’s almost chilling, Dennis thinks. Almost… But Dennis is the one in control here. So he just chuckles and shakes his head.

“Nope, that about covers it! You can use the utility closet to keep your stuff in for the time being.”

Liam nods and gives Dennis a thankful smile. Dennis honestly isn’t sure Liam _has_ any stuff, though—he hadn’t brought anything to the bar, and he still doesn’t seem to have anything with him except the clothes on his back.

“Thank you, Dennis,” Liam says simply. He takes a seat at the couch, sitting upright at the end of it with his hands flat in his lap. Apparently, he was going to ignore Dennis’ instructions to make himself at home.

That's fine, Dennis thinks. He’ll break Liam soon enough.

As for Mac, he offers Liam a small nod and smile that are clearly forced, at least to Dennis’ well-trained eyes.

“I’m glad you’re here, Liam,” Mac says, his voice tight. Then he turns to look at Dennis, one eyebrow raised.

“Can I talk to you?”

“Uh…”

Dennis turns to give Liam an apologetic smile.

“Do you mind if we talk for a minute?”

Liam sniffs and waves one hand in a dismissive gesture.

“Go ahead,” he answers. Mac nods at him in reply, before grabbing Dennis and pulling him off to his room. No sooner has he closed the door behind them than he sucks in an exasperated breath and looks at Dennis.

“Dennis, you _can’t_ be serious.”

Dennis barely contains a growl.

“Mac, come on. We’ve had this argument three times today already! He’s staying here, and that’s final. What’s your problem, anyway? Don’t you think he would have done something by now if he was _planning_ to do something?”

Mac just pouts back at Dennis. The expression on his face looks somewhere between anger and that of a kicked puppy.

“I know, Dennis,” he says with a sigh. “I know. But—”

Dennis reaches out to put a hand on Mac’s shoulder. He finds with satisfaction that Mac automatically relaxes under his touch, leaning a bit closer.

“But what?” Dennis asks quietly, tilting his head. Mac watches him with wide eyes before sighing again.

“I’m the head of security,” Mac says softly. “And that doesn’t stop when I come home.”

Dennis actually huffs a quick laugh. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting Mac to say, but it certainly wasn’t that.

“So?” Dennis asks.

“So,” Mac continues, “If Liam’s going to be staying here, I think I should stay with you. So I can protect you.”

Dennis raises his eyebrows and blinks in disbelief.

“I…” He pauses, starts again.

“You’re saying you want to stay in my room with me.”

“My room is so far away from yours!” Mac answers, already defensive. “What if Liam decides he wants to hurt you and I can’t get to you in time?!”

Holy shit, Dennis realizes suddenly. This isn’t about Mac wanting to protect him at all.

Well, maybe it is.

But mostly… It’s about Mac being jealous. Of _Liam_. And the attention Dennis is giving him.

Dennis bites his lip to suppress a grin at that. Talk about a delicious development.

“Mac,” Dennis coos.

“Mac, Mac, Mac…”

Mac is watching him with those wide, adoring eyes.

“I appreciate how much you care,” Dennis continues. And, honestly, he does. But he definitely doesn’t need—or even want—to share his room with Mac.

“But our apartment just isn’t that big, buddy. I think you’re worrying too much.”

When Mac doesn’t look convinced, Dennis adds, “Besides, a big strong guy like you?”

He lets his hand stray down to Mac’s bicep, giving it a light squeeze. Mac looks surprised, but his eyes light up, and he tries and fails to hide his smile.

“Liam’s just a _twig,_ Mac. If he tries anything, you can snap him in half like it’s nothing.”

“Yeah,” Mac agrees easily, now wearing a wide grin. It’s almost comical, Dennis thinks, how easy it is to manipulate him.

“You’re right, Dennis.”

Dennis smiles back at Mac, big and bright.

“I always am.”

Mac’s fears assuaged, Dennis opens the door again and walks back out to the living room.

Liam is sitting exactly where they left him, picking idly at a loose thread on his bathrobe. At least he’s reliable, Dennis thinks. When he sees Dennis, he looks up and offers him a small smile.

“Welcome back,” he says. Dennis nods back and, as a show of goodwill, joins him on the couch—albeit on the other side. Maybe he can work up to physical contact after he gets Liam cleaned up a bit more. As for Mac, he takes a seat in Dennis’ armchair, swiveling it to face the couch. It doesn’t escape Dennis’ notice that Mac is watching him and Liam like a hawk… Or, more fittingly, like a mother hen.

After the silence stretches on just long enough to get uncomfortable, Dennis says, “So…”

He idly picks up the TV remote and offers it to Liam.

“Do you wanna watch something?” he asks. “Since you’re our guest, and it's your first night here…”

For what feels like far too long to Dennis, Liam just stares at the remote in his hand. Dennis is just beginning to wonder if Liam even knows what TV _is,_ when he suddenly takes the remote from him in one fluid motion.

“Thanks,” Liam says simply. Dennis watches, more than a little surprised, as Liam deftly navigates to their (stolen) movie channels and settles on _Alien._

Apparently, Dennis isn’t the only one surprised, because Mac asks incredulously, “You like _Alien?”_

Liam looks back at Mac and gives him a blank stare.

“What’s not to like?” he asks.

“It’s a masterwork of the sci-fi and horror genres. Plus, such bold Freudian undertones in a movie this popular and well-received?"

Liam pauses and takes in a breath that sounds almost like a hiss.

"Genius, man.”

Dennis carefully keeps his expression blank, but he has to admit, he feels just as shocked by Liam’s answer as Mac looks, his mouth hanging agape. Apparently, picking Liam apart and putting him back together will be even more interesting than Dennis thought.

Oblivious to the stir he’s caused, Liam just turns back to the TV, watching it with no sign of life in his features.

“… _Predator’s_ better,” Mac grumbles a moment later, pouting as he shifts his gaze from Dennis and Liam to the screen.

Liam doesn’t say anything to that.

Neither does Dennis.

* * *

 

Both for the sake of politeness and for building a rapport that he can later exploit, Dennis hangs out with Liam until the movie is over. (Mac hangs out too, but Dennis is sure that has more to do with babysitting him than it does with Mac wanting to watch _Alien_ with Liam.)

Finally, though, Dennis can feel his eyelids growing heavy, and he’s also nearly reached his McPoyle quota for the day. It’s not that Liam is bad company; he’s actually been surprisingly well-behaved. The most he’s done is ask for a glass of milk—though he had to settle for water—and ask if he could borrow a blanket for the night from the utility closet. If it weren’t for the bathrobe and the odor of sweat and milk, Liam would be a model houseguest, Dennis thinks.

Oh well. Plenty of time to fix that. Starting…

Dennis stretches and gives a faux yawn. “So, Liam,” he begins once he’s recovered.

“What are you doing tomorrow?”

Liam turns to look at him and shrugs.

“You tell me,” he answers. “You’re the host, after all.”

Dennis bites back his grin. Polite _and_ submissive—this was going to be child’s play.

“Well, do you need anything?” Dennis asks. “Clothes, toiletries…?”

He bites his lip, as if he’s approaching a sensitive subject.

“I can’t help but notice you didn’t bring anything with you…”

Liam sighs and lets his gaze drop to the table.

“Yeah,” he answers simply.

“I’m lucky Pappy let me leave with the clothes on my back.”

That sentence alone offers a whole _world_ of things for Dennis to unpack, but it’s far too late tonight for him to get into that now. So instead he just nods.

“So maybe we can go shopping,” Dennis says.

To his surprise, Liam looks almost embarrassed at that.

“… I don’t have any money,” he says.

Mac frowns at that development, but Dennis is laughing with glee on the inside. No money means Liam has to be _financially_ dependent on Dennis, in addition to everything else. This just got better and better.

“Don’t worry about that,” Dennis says quickly, giving Liam a reassuring smile. “It’ll be my treat.”

Out of his peripheral vision, Dennis can see Mac’s jaw tense as Liam raises an eyebrow.

“Well…”

Liam pauses, chewing on his lip as he thinks. Finally, he says, “If you’re sure. Just don’t break your back on my account.”

Dennis shakes his head and chuckles.

“Don’t you worry about a thing, Liam. We always treat our guests like royalty.”

He turns to grin at Mac.

“Isn’t that right, Mac?”

Mac gives a weak laugh and nods, but he’s not convincing Dennis. He’s probably not even convincing Liam.

“…Right,” Mac agrees.

With that settled and out of the way, Dennis wastes no time in saying his goodnights. He reminds Liam that there are extra pillows in the utility closet if he needs them, as well as the location of the bathroom.

It doesn’t escape Dennis’ notice that Mac is watching him the entire time, right up to Dennis closing his bedroom door behind him.

* * *

 

Dennis wakes up the next morning safe and alone, which is a good sign that Liam probably behaved himself the night before. He climbs out of bed and pulls on a T-shirt, before heading off to his bathroom to comb his hair and take care of his morning skincare routine so he can rejoin the rest of the world.

When he enters the living room, Dennis finds it quiet and dim, illuminated only by the weak streams of sunlight coming through the blinds in the dining room windows. Mac doesn’t seem to be up yet, but the couch is empty, the rumpled blanket and pillow on the armrest the only sign that anyone slept there the night before.

Dennis automatically scans the rest of the room for Liam, but finds nothing. He frowns to himself, and despite his sensibilities, finds himself getting just a little bit nervous. Damn Mac for planting these stupid unfounded fears about Liam in his head.

“Liam…?” Dennis calls into the apartment, his voice quiet—he doesn’t want to wake Mac. He listens for one, two tense seconds before he hears rustling in the kitchen and a soft, emotionless voice answering, “In the kitchen.”

Dennis breathes a sigh of relief and takes off in that direction, rounding the corner in the dining room.

“Morning, Li—” Dennis automatically starts as the kitchen enters his view, but he stops abruptly when he realizes what exactly he’s looking at.

Liam is standing in the middle of the kitchen, completely nude. He has an open carton of coffee creamer in one hand and a Twinkie in the other. When he sees Dennis, he just smiles at him and raises the Twinkie in greeting.

“Hey, man.”

As Dennis stands there in shock, his eyes locked with Liam’s to avoid accidentally looking anywhere _else,_ Liam gestures to the creamer with his Twinkie.

“You know, you guys really should keep some real milk around here. You’re gonna get cavities.”

After taking a moment to mull it over, Dennis decides on his next course of action. He marches right past Liam, neither speaking to nor looking at him. He opens the fridge, grabs a beer, and cracks it open. Dennis takes a long swig of it right there in front of the fridge before closing the door and walking over to take a seat at the counter.

Such is the state of things when Mac walks into the room a couple minutes later.

_“Jesus CHRIST!”_ Mac exclaims.

Dennis looks over in surprise—he hadn’t heard Mac come in. He finds, with some small amusement, that Mac automatically assumed a battle stance when he saw Liam. As for Liam, he’s still just standing there, drinking their creamer and acting like it was the most normal thing in the world for him to be standing naked in the kitchen.

(Which, Dennis dimly realizes, maybe it _is._ He has no clue what the McPoyles actually did when they weren’t making life hell for him and the rest of the Gang.)

“Good morning, Macwell,” Liam greets, still wearing that damn cheerful smile.

_“WHY_ are you naked,” Mac says in response, his eyes wide. He looks from Liam to Dennis, probably searching for an explanation. Dennis just shrugs with his beer. He needs one or two in him before he can deal with this today.

“My robe was dirty,” Liam answers, as if that explains anything. The fucking thing was dirty yesterday, Dennis thinks—why does it matter now?

Mac wrinkles his nose in disgust and asks, “So you’re just fucking naked?”

Liam raises his head and sniffs. Dennis nearly starts at the realization—Liam is actually _scandalized._

“It’s better to be naked and clean than it is to wear dirty clothes around all day,” Liam says, his voice almost threateningly low.

“Cleanliness is next to Godliness, Ronald. You should know that.”

Mac’s jaw drops at that—a sentiment with which Dennis is inclined to agree. Mac looks back to Dennis for an answer, but he just shrugs again. Apparently, Liam is just _full_ of surprises.

It isn’t long before Mac follows Dennis’ lead, walking over to the fridge and producing two beers. He takes his usual seat at the counter next to Dennis and starts drinking. Liam, it seems, is content to stay standing.

Once Dennis decides he’s buzzed enough to move on with his day, he turns his head over his shoulder to make eye contact with Liam.

“Okay, Liam,” Dennis says, putting on a cheerful tone and forcing a smile. “Go get dressed. I’m taking you to get new clothes.”

Liam frowns and tilts his head.

“I don’t have anything to wear.”

Mac interjects, “Can’t you just put on your clothes from yesterday?”

_“THEY’RE UNCLEAN!”_ Liam snaps back, and it’s enough to startle both Mac and Dennis. It had been so long since Liam shouted like that, Dennis had almost forgotten that it was a thing he did.

“Okay, Liam, it’s alright,” Dennis answers. He sighs and pivots fully in his chair.

Reluctantly, Dennis forces himself to quickly eye Liam up and down—cold and clinical, of course. _Solely_ for practicality’s sake. But that’s not enough to stop Mac from watching him incredulously, and even Liam seems a bit surprised.

“You’re about my size,” Dennis says to Liam as he meets his eyes again.

“You can borrow some of my clothes today.”

Liam blinks.

“… Thanks, man,” he says after a moment.

Dennis simply nods and stands, ready to head back to his room to find something for Liam to wear. He’s already mentally cycling through his wardrobe, trying to decide what outfits he’s tired of— whatever he gives Liam, he _definitely_ doesn’t want it back.

He’s so absorbed in this as he returns to his room, Dennis almost misses the shocked, wide-eyed look Mac is giving him.

Almost.


End file.
